Leh Ladakh Travel Guide
In geological terms, this is a young land, formed only a few million years ago
by the buckling and folding of the earth's crust as the Indian sub-continent
pushed with irresistible force against the immovable mass of Asia. Its basic
contours, uplifted by these unimaginable tectonic movements, have been modified
over the millennia by the opposite process of erosion, sculpted into the form
we see today by wind and water.
Yes, water! Today, a high -altitude desert, sheltered from the rain-bearing
clouds of the Indian monsoon by the barrier of the Great Himalaya, Ladakh was
once covered by an extensive lake system, the vestiges of which still exist
on its south -east plateaux of Rupshu and Chushul - in drainage basins with
evocative names like Tso-moriri, Tsokar,a nd grandest of all, Pangong-tso. Occasionally,
some stray monsoon cluds do find their way over the Himalaya, and lately this
seems to be happening with increasing frequency. But the main source of water
remains the winter snowfall. Dras, Zanskar and the Suru Valley on the Himalaya's
northern flank receive heavy snow in winter; this feeds the glaciers whose meltwater,
carried down by streams, irrigates the fields in summer. For the rest of the
region, the snow on the peaks is virutally the only source of water. As the
crops grow, the villagers pray not for rain, but for sun to melt the glaciers
and liberate their water. Usually their prayers are answered, for the skies
are clear and the sun shines for over 300 days in the year.
Ladakh lies at altitudes ranging from about 9,000 feet (2750m) at Kargil to
25,170 feet (7,672m) at Saser Kangri in the Karakoram. Thus summer temperatures
rarely exceed about 27 degree celcuis in the shade, while in winter they may
plummet to minus 20 degree celcuis even in Leh. Surprisingly, though, the thin
air makes the heat ofthe sun even more intense than at lower altitudes; it is
said that only in Ladakh can a man sitting in the sun with his feet in the shade
suffer from sunstroke and frostbite at the same time!
